McGinty, aged 54, of Thorburn Close, Neath, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol on October 25 when he appeared before magistrates.

The court heard McGinty has worked for the DVLA for more than 30 years and is a senior member of the agency’s criminal intelligence team.

Paul Warren, for McGinty, said his client was a man of previously clean character.

He said the defendant only lived a five minute walk from the Cross Keys pub where he had left his car on the night in question, and “he cannot explain why he decided to drive home”.

The court heard details of a report into McGinty from probation officer Jo Steadman in which the defendant was described as “social drinker” - however on the night in question he had been out with friends in Neath, and had then been invited to play in a snooker tournament in Neath Workingmen’s Club.

Feeling nervous about the match he drank a beer for “Dutch courage” - and “one beer became more”.

The probation officer said McGinty was going through a “very difficult time” following family bereavements, and had described the events of October 25 as “the stupidest and most regretful incident” of his life.

Magistrates told him that given such high breathalyser reading, only a custodial sentence was appropriate in the case.

McGinty was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete a nine month alcohol treatment programme.

He was also disqualified from driving for 33 months.

The UK in particular has a relationship with personalised number plates. According to estimates by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency), the UK reported an excess of two billion pounds in tax revenue from tax auctions over the past 25 years. As they are keen to state, an expression of interest in a particular plate by three people or more is enough to push the price of that Reg plate through the roof. It has also been documented that the buyers let their hearts take control of their heads when they bid for these plates.

Personalised number plate auctions are constantly rewriting the record books with regard to the highest price paid for a plate. The record currently stands at £518,000 which is quite impressive. The prices of these Regplates does not seem to be slowing down either.

Of particular interest is the recent auction of the highly-hyped 250 C Reg plate which sold for £21,500. This is a clear indication that the expectations for the prices of personalised number plates will continue to increase.